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Simon started ballooning 20 years ago with the Eastern Region Ballooning Club, just as a hobby but crossing the channel is something that he always aspired to do.

He said: “It was a real opportunity. I went with a good friend of mine we used his balloon to fly across because it is bigger than mine.

“Dave had done the previous attempt eight years ago but it was my first experience of doing anything like this across a large chunk of water.

It was an amazing experience, a bit scary in the middle. As you get further away from Dover the white cliffs get smaller and smaller like a slit on the horizon and it was hazy so you couldn't see the French coast line, so we were reliant on GPS.”

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Preparation for the flight started in January when the organisers started to keep an eye on weather patterns. The crews were given just 48 hours notice pre-crossing making it a tight turnaround to get the 100 teams to the launch site in Kent.

Haverhill balloonist David Rawllings, an IT engineer by day first got involved in ballooning in 1989 and has participated in festivals across the world but said the channel crossing has always been a dream.

Left:Tony Gould right: David Rawlings mid flight.

David said:" It was a buzz all day.

"It was fantastic because when I got to the coast directly over Dover I could see the ferries in the harbour as we flew over them and when we looked behind us there was a lovely view of the cliffs."

David is also a member of the Eastern Region Ballooning Club and completed the flight in two hours and 45 minutes.

It took Simon and Dave was two hours and Simon and Dave fortuitously landed on scrap ground beside a winery, giving him and his friend the perfect excuse to celebrate the flight by popping a bottle of champagne.

His wife Mhari Smeeton, 51 said: “I am proud of him because for the majority of the flight you are over water. At least when he does it around this area there is always ground underneath them.

“When you are over the water there is no where to go. Once you leave the white cliffs of Dover there is no turning back after that... now we are going to have a Guinness Record certificate on the wall at some point.”

Guinness World Records hope to celebrate the ballooning odyssey as an official record once a retrospective application is submitted and the relevant paper work verified.

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Whether or not the flight makes it as a world record, for Simon and David and their families the sport will remain a way of life.

Mhairi Smeeton said:“We used to do it together till I was pregnant. We were both training to be pilots at the same time but I jacked it in for obvious reasons and then I always had someone to look after on the ground.

“And now our son has got into it, he’s tall enough to help and lift things and can now reach the burner so he’s going to start his training soon.”

David and his partner, who are both 60 this year are aiming to take part in as many ballooning events as possible to mark the occasion including a big ballooning festival in Italy in July.

The previous record, sponsored by global marketing group Exclusive Ballooning, was set in 2011 when 49 balloons crossed the channel.